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UCI opens CIT at home

'Eaters meet High Point from North Carolina in first round of CollegeInsider.com Tournament at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Crawford Court.

By Barry Faulkner

March 18, 2013 | 1:38 p.m.

The UC Irvine men's basketball team will play host to High Point University of North Carolina in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Crawford Court.

The Anteaters (20-15), who lost to Pacific in the title game of the Big West Conference Tournament on Saturday, are making their first postseason appearance since 2002, when they appeared in the NIT.

High Point (17-13) is making its first postseason appearance as an NCAA Division I program. The Panthers won the North Division of the Big South Conference, the program's first division crown since 1996-97, but lost in the first round of the conference tournament to eventual champion Liberty.

The Panthers, under fourth-year coach Scott Cherry, will be led by second-team All-Big South performer Allan Chaney (14.4 points and eight rebounds per game), as well as Adam Weary (10 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.2 steals per contest), who was named to the conference's All-Freshman Team.

John Brown, a first-team all-conference choice who was also the Freshman of the Year, will miss the game with an injury. He averaged 16.4 points per game.

The CIT is a 32-team tournament that opens with eight games Tuesday and eight more Wednesday. This is the fifth year of the tournament's existence.

If this year's schedule follows form from the 2012 tournament, second-round games will be played Saturday and Sunday.

Also representing the Big West in the CIT are Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Hawaii. Cal Poly visits Weber State on Wednesday, when Hawaii will play host to Air Force.

UCI and High Point share one similar opponent in Liberty. UCI defeated the Flames, 64-46, on Nov. 19 in the Progressive Legends Classic Subregional in Huntsville, Texas. High Point defeated Liberty, 77-72, in a home conference game on Jan. 16, then topped the Flames, 77-68, at Liberty in conference play on Feb. 16.